Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has urged his players to ignore the form book and focus on taking a step towards bringing European football back to Pittodrie tonight.
The Dons, who are second in the Scottish Premiership, face a third-placed Caley Thistle team hoping to close the gap on them in the race for Europe.
Victory for Aberdeen will take them 11 points clear of John Hughes’ side with seven matches remaining and put them in pole position to finish best of the rest in the division behind the champions-elect Celtic.
Inverness have collected three points from their last five matches to fall off the pace set by the Dons but McInnes said: “Nothing is going to be decided whatever the result but we know this is an important game.
“Inverness will view it the same way as us as John Hughes will see beating us as a vital step towards them pulling up towards us. We know we can take a significant step clear of them if we can get the three points and we realise what is at stake.
“We are relishing the challenge and Inverness come into the game not in the best of form with just three points from their last five games. But they have such an experienced team with a lot of know-how about them and they deserve so much praise for the consistency they’ve shown. We have always had tight matches with them but we have managed to find a way to win most of them.”
While the Highlanders visit Pittodrie hoping to breathe new life into their bid to catch the Dons, McInnes is looking for a response from his players after their poor display in Saturday’s goalless draw with Partick Thistle at Pittodrie.
He said: “We were facing an opposition on Saturday who had their own priorities in terms of getting points to get themselves clear of any relegation issues.
“They showed that no one is going to roll over and just give us points at this stage of the season. The level of performance wasn’t good enough against Partick but it’s not a problem that has hung about us for any length of time.
“Over the piece the players have shown that level of consistency and motivation and Iexpect them to continue that until the end of the campaign.”
Dons captain Russell Anderson remains sidelined, while Ryan Jack is expected to feature despite suffering a foot injury against the Jags.